DISSONART ENSEMBLE

The Thessaloniki-based ensemble dissonArt was founded in 2005 with the intention to disseminate the stylistic diversity of new music in Greece as well as internationally. Following the model of similar contemporary orchestral groups, the ensemble is organized around a core of 6 soloists and associated partners, with a flexible internal structure. The ensemble's programmes aim to promote works of recognized as well as emerging composers that deserve to be heard. Music-theatre works and collaborations with groups of other artistic disciplines that result in the creation of original works are among the main objectives of dissonArt. The ensemble has closely collaborated with composers such as G.Aperghis, B.Furrer and Manos Tsangaris (music theatre commision: Love & Diversity). dissonArt's activity spectrum includes, among others, educational projects such as the organization and realization of a bi-annual Composition Competition in collaboration with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, and Composition/Performance Workshops held at the Music Village-Pilion (www.music-village.gr). The ensemble has also performed at the annual Composition Workshop ( 2006-2011) organised by Thessaloniki Concert Hall. dissonArt ensemble is performing frequently in Greece and abroad in prominent halls and festivals such as the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, Ensembl[:E]uropa (Cologne), Klang Festival (Copenhagen), Kunstfestspiele herrenhausen (Hannover), Forum Wallis (Switzerland), Milano incontra la Grecia (Milan), Klangspuren (Innsbruck ), 4020. mehr als Musik (Linz), Athens Festival, Brucknerhaus, Minoritensaal, Piccolo Teatro, Onassis Cultural Centre, Thessaloniki Concert Hall a.o. In 2012 their live concert in Cologne was released by WDR3 and Dissonance Records.

www.dissonart.gr/

TALLER SONORO

Since its creation in 2000, Taller Sonoro has tirelessly advanced in two main directions, the interpretation of the latest and most radical music in its aesthetic proposal, with the aim of offering it to the Spanish and international public with the highest degree of rigor and commitment; and support for young composers, offering the group itself as a useful and professional tool to fully develop their creative bet. The deployment of these two lines of action has been unstoppable in the last decade as it has been proven in a regular way in the Ciclo de Música Contemporanea in Seville and Granada from 2002, in seasons of CDMC at the Museo Reina Sofia Art Center, 2006, 2007 (and soon 2012), in the Ciclo de Música Comtemporanea in Córdoba (2005), the Ciclo de Música Contemporanea Orquesta Sinfónica of Malaga (2007), the Festival de Música Contemporanea of Alicante (2008), the Quincena Musical of San Sebastian (2006) and festivals KLEM (Bilbao, 2009) and ENSEMS (Valencia, 2010) . landmarks of an Iberian Peninsula which also lists the names of Almería (Ciclo de Música de Cámara of Unicaja), Santander (Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo), Murcia (II Festival de Música Contemporanea in Molina de Segura) and, again, Madrid (Auditorio Nacional de Musica). Simultaneously, the international diffusion of the activity of Taller Sonoro has been one of its prime objectives, contributing to the knowledge of current Spanish repertoires in European scope- Cycle OPUS 5.1 (Bordeaux, 2005), Cycle "Spirals" ( Paris, 2005), Hochschule für Musik (Frankfurt am Main, 2005), Instituto Cervantes Berlin (2006, 2007) and Bremen (2007), Colegio de España and Instituto Cervantes de Paris (2007), Theatre Quartz (Brest, 2008) Academia de España in Rome (2010) and recently in the Vienna Musikverein (May 2011) and, singularly, it is a group of remarkable presence in Latin American latitudes, from Peru (Festival de Música Contemporanea in Lima, 2007 and 2008) to Mexico (Festival Múisca contemporanea in Morelia, 2010) and Argentina (2011). Certainly, the collaboration with other musical groups and access to the recording market decisively enriches the contribution of Taller Sonoro to the national scene: with several projects in which the group has collaborated with the Ensemble Organum Marcel Peres and the Ensemble Gilles Binchois conducted by Dominique Vellard, the phonographic presence of our group covers monographs devoted to composers such as José María Sánchez-Verdú, Juan Cruz and Cesar Camarero, within the first edited series by Anemos in 2009 - as well as two live recordings devoted to the work of David del Puerto (Sendesaal, Radio Bremen, 28/11/2007) and finalists composers Premio Fundación de Autor SGAE (Auditorio 400, National Museum Art Centre Reina Sofia, 12.03.2007). Moreover, the pedagogical work of Taller Sonoro and its collaboration with the promotions of younger composers has been a fundamental constant in its career: thus in 2005 at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt am Main and between 2004 and 2006 as resident group in the Curso Internacional de Analisis y Composición de Villafranca del Bierzo ( International Course on Analysis and Composition ), led by Cristóbal Halffter, and, in very significant way , the group is a fundamental part of the activities of the Chair of Composition "Manuel de Falla" in Cádiz promoted by Junta de Andalucía since 2004, which has become Taller Sonoro into a regular group in the planning of Festival de Música Española which is held annually in the Andalusian city. As evidence of this interest in direct and intimate contact with the composers at an early stage of professionalization, Taller Sonoro has undertaken several projects in recent years, currently valid thus, in 2008 established the position of "Resident Composer ", annually renewed and has already gone to Joav Pasowsky, Victor Ibarra and Christian Morales, and that in the same year the organization started an annual course, the "Taller Instrumental de Múisca Actual" (TIMAC), aimed at conservatory students and teachers in order to familiarize them with the current repertoire. Finally, Taller Sonoro, which since 2008 is managed from the promotional, administrative and artistic point of view by the company Ensemble Sonoro S. L. - has not forgotten the research, analysis and theoretical thoughts on the contemporary music: with more than twenty thousand visitors annually, the online magazine Espacio Sonoro, included since 2004 in the band's website (www.tallersonoro.com) which is held every four months, it has become an essential reference for music lovers and for professionals who are interested in the sonic adventure of our time. Plural lines thrown into the future: in recent months, one of the initiatives received with greater expectations has been the creation of the Laboratorio de Música Electrónica de Andalucia Taller Sonoro (Laboratory of Electronic Music) (LEMAts), with the intention of making it an essential tool in our country for the composition of electronic music, both acousmatic and mixed, opened , like the instrumental group, to young composers. This is not, obviously, the only ajar door: We are aware of the necessity for opening horizons of repertoire, Taller Sonoro expects, in shortly, to make its staff more flexible; based on the initial organic-seven instrumentalists, held since its foundation- for specific projects in which the group will count on outside conductors ad hoc and visual artists who complete comprehensive proposals, so seductive in sound,spatial and visual fields, with the decisive addition of the fruits of LEMAts. These are our proposals and our renewed hope, based in a reality which is more than a decade behind but we only consider as the necessary impulse for further and more profound accomplishments.

www.tallersonoro.com/

UMS 'n JIP

UMS 'n JIP (Ulrike Mayer-Spohn und Javier Hagen) forschen und arbeiten im Grenzbereich zwischen musikalischer Avantgarde und Pop, zwischen Konzert und Musiktheater, zwischen europäischer und aussereuropäischer Musik und arbeiteten unter anderem mit Komponisten wie Goebbels, Rihm, Eötvös, Reimann, Kagel, Oña, Dayer, Gysin, Huang Ruo, Guo Wenjing und Deqing Wen zusammen. In 8 Jahren über 700 Konzerte auf mittlerweile allen Kontinenten, >15 internationale Auszeichnungen, darunter das prestigeträchtige Dreijahresstipendium MusiquePRO, 6 Musiktheaterpremieren (u.a. am Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires), 2 internationale Forschungsprojekte, Gastvorlesungen an bedeutenden Universitäten der USA, Russlands, Chinas, Hong Kongs, Australiens, Griechenlands, Ägyptens, Spaniens, der Türkei, der Schweiz und Frankreichs sowie ihr Engagement innerhalb der ISCM (Int. Society for Contemporary Music) und der ECPNM (European Conference for Promoters of New Music) sind nur einige Mosaiksteine einer aussergewöhnlichen wie konsequenten künstlerischen Démarche: Beinahe jedes der über 150 in Auftrag gegebenen Werke ist das meistgespielte Werk des jeweiligen Komponisten. Seit 2011 werden sie musikalisch von einem der bedeutendsten Interpreten für Neue Musik gecoacht: Irvine Arditti (Arditti Quartet London).

umsnjip.ch/